Agricultural Law

Overview

Chambers is ranked in Band 2 in Chambers & Partners for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, with a range of silks and juniors with experience across the full span of agricultural and farming disputes. Landmark is particularly well-placed for disputes in this area, given the frequent intersection of property and planning issues that arise in the agricultural context. Barristers have a real depth of understanding of the issues crossing over between planning and property which affect farm owners and businesses.

In particular, barristers have acted in a range of arbitrations, first instance cases and appellate matters relating to the protection of tenancies of agricultural holdings under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 and farm business tenancies under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, including succession rights and issues around forfeiture and bringing tenancies to an end. Further, Landmark’s barristers have appeared in some of the leading cases relating to the protected occupancies and statutory tenancies of agricultural workers houses, both under the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 and the more modern statutory codes.

Rural disputes often engage other property law issues and concepts of which Landmark barristers have considerable experience, such as constructive trusts and proprietary estoppel, boundary disputes, rent reviews, overage and development rights, mortgages and many other landlord and tenant issues relating to farmland. Landmark barristers have an understanding of the way that these particular matters affect farms and agricultural land.

Additionally, Landmark has a strength in agricultural disputes involving planning and rating issues, given its pre-eminence in that area. Public and private rights often intersect in rural and agricultural cases. Additionally, rural land frequently gives rise issues relating to rights relating to and connected with watercourses, roadways and electricity networks. Numerous barristers have appeared in significant agricultural and rural disputes involving those issues, especially in cases involving public bodies.

Examples of recent rural highlights include:

• Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2023] EWHC 35 (Ch): Dispute regarding whether the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 Part III confers a right on the public to camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons without permission.
• Kirby v Electricity North West Ltd [2023] EWHC 75 (TCC): Dispute regarding damages arising from works on farmland to replace an underground electricity cable.
• Rees v Windsor-Clive [2020] EWCA Civ 816: Dispute over landlord’s rights of entry over farmland in order to carry out certain activities in compliance with conditions attached to a planning permission under various tenancy agreements.  
• R (on the application of Sharp) v Northumbrian Water Ltd [2020] EWHC 84 (Admin): Judicial review arising out of a burst pipe under a cattle farm and whether the water undertaker’s decision to serve notices of entry onto the land under the Water Industry Act 1991.  
• Hook v Hawkins [2019] UKUT 147 (LC): Determination of whether the ex-wife of a farm worker had a statutory tenancy under the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976.